Every month, I host private Office Hours for Author Insider members. They’re casual (virtual) get-togethers where writers can check in with each other on what they’re working on, trade ideas, ask questions, and generally help one another navigate the labyrinthine world of writing and publishing. The specifics stay in the room (I don’t record the sessions so people can speak candidly), but some questions come up often enough—and are useful enough—that I think they’re worth sharing anonymously now and then.
The most common one, hands down, is: Do I really need to be on social media?
In our last session, it came up again, and a strategy offered by a member really stood out for its simplicity and practicality. In short, he suggested committing to a social media platform only if it passes three tests.
1. Do you actually like it?
Social media demands consistency. If posting is generally enjoyable (maybe it feels like a small creative practice or it sharpens your thinking or it encourages conversations with interesting people), then that’s a green check mark. If, however, it reliably leaves you depleted or resentful… not so great. An author platform built on dread is hard to sustain. And readers can usually feel that strain.
2. Are your readers there?
Where do the people most likely to care about your book already gather, learn, and talk? Your particular readers may not spend much time on Instagram but be super-active on LinkedIn, for example. So start with the audience, not the platform. Whatever it ends up being, a small, well-matched community is much more valuable than a large, indifferent following.
3. Does it serve a clear purpose?
Social media can be an insane time suck, so decide what success on social media means to you before you invest your precious time in it. Is the goal discovery, speaking invitations, newsletter growth, peer connection, or remaining visible between books? (Notice I didn’t even include book sales: in the Authors Guild’s most recent income survey, authors rated social media and blogging among their least effective marketing channels, though TikTok was an exception for certain genres.) The point is that different goals call for different behaviors. Know what you want to accomplish, because without a purpose, social media easily becomes an endlessly renewing task.
Conclusion
If social media fails one or more of these tests, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should drop it entirely. You probably want at least one dependable way for readers to find you and hear from you. So try another channel, one that suits you better. Maybe it’s a newsletter, or a podcast, a book club or a workshop series, or… you get the idea.
And if you find yourself dreading that, too? Drop it. You can always come back to it later. Writers already have one demanding, endlessly renewing task: writing. Social media doesn’t automatically deserve your time. Use it if it earns its keep. If it doesn’t, let it go without guilt.
Really helpful recap to one of my favorite features of being a paid subscriber of Author Insider!!